Nordiques de Québec (WHA, 1976-77)

Séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Avco de 1976-77
Nordiques contre Racers d'Indianapolis

     The Quebec Nordiques were French Canada's team in the World Hockey Association, and an original member of that league. The team played its home games at the 10,012-seat Colisée de Québec. Former Pittsburgh Penguins coach (and Detroit Red Wings forward) Marc Boileau was behind the bench for Quebec, while Maurice Filion was General Manager. 

     The Nordiques had developed into one of the strongest franchises in the often unstable WHA, both on and off the ice. The team was coming off a 50-27-4 record in 1975-76, while they were frequently in the top three in attendance. 1976-77 was more of the same, as the Nordiques finished first in the Eastern Division with a 47-31-3 record. Their 97 points were 14 ahead of second-place Cincinnati and nine behind league-best Houston. Attendance dipped slightly at Le Colisée, as the Nordiques averaged 8,598 per game, fourth-highest in the league.

     Quebec scored the fourth-most goals in the WHA in 1976-77, with 353. The team was led by forward Real Cloutier, who netted 66 goals and 141 points in 76 games. Former Montreal Canadien (and Michigan Stag) Marc Tardif was next with 49 goals and 109 points in 62 games. Serge Bernier (43) and Paulin Bordeleau (42) were the other 40-goal scorers on the Nordiques that year. Chris Bordeleau netted 32 goals and 107 points in 72 games.

     Quebec allowed the fifth-fewest goals in the WHA, giving up just 295. The team used three different goaltenders that year. Richard "The King" Brodeur was the main goaltender, playing in 51 games, sporting a 29-18-2 record, 3.45 GAA and 2 shutouts. Ed Humphreys played in 22 games, with a 12-8-1 record, 3.58 GAA and 1 shutout. Serge Aubry, an original Nordique, appeared in 21 games, with a 6-5-0 record and 3.98 GAA and 1 shutout in his final season. Brodeur and Aubry got the nod in goal for the postseason. The top scorer on defense was Jim Dorey, with 13 goals and 47 points in 73 games. Long-time Montreal Canadien JC Trembley (who won 5 Stanley Cups with the Habs), had 4 goals and 35 points in 53 games.

     As for penalty minutes, Quebec led the league in minutes, piling up 1,485 that season. They were led by third year defenseman Paul Baxter, picked up from the defunct Cleveland Crusaders. Baxter, who would go on to play eight years in the NHL, piled up 244 PIM in 66 games, while scoring 6 goals and 23 points--all at age 20! Wally Weir, another young defenseman, had 197 PIM in 69 games. Left wing Curt Brackenbury, who would play parts of four years in the NHL, had 146 PIM in 77 games in 1976-77. Bob Fitchner (105) and Jim Dorey (102) were the other Nordiques with at least 100 PIM that year.

photo d'équipe

     1976-77 would see the Quebec Nordiques win their lone championship. In the first round, Quebec made quick work of the New England Whalers, downing them in five games. They then similarly downed the Indianapolis Racers in the semifinals to advance to the Avco Cup Finals against the Winnipeg Jets. The series went the full seven games before the Nordiques blew out the Jets, 8-2 in the deciding game seven. Serge Bernier led the team in postseason scoring with 14 goals and 36 points in 17 games.

     I got this program for Christmas a few weeks ago. This is a unique program in my collection: The only one that is not in English. Since it's from Quebec City, it's written almost entirely in French. All the ads, the stats, the articles are in French. It's 35 pages long, mostly in black and white, though some pages do have color. The team photo is found on page two. An article about the playoffs, titled Vers La Coupe Avco ("Towards the Avco Cup") is on pages 4-5. From what I can tell, this is from the second round of the Avco Cup Playoffs between the Nordiques and Indianapolis Racers. The first round series are documented on page 25.  Wally Weir is the player on the cover of the program. The signature is printed-not an actual autograph.

listes des équipes

     Here are the rosters for the Nordiques and Racers. The Racers were 36-37-8 that season, good enough for third in the Eastern Division, just three back of second-place Cincinnati. Future Nordiques coach Jacques Demers was behind the bench in Indy that season. Goaltender Michel Dion would go on to be an all-star with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1981-82 and nearly lead the Pens to an upset of the New York Islanders. Darryl Maggs was the Racers leading scorer with 16 goals and 71 points in 81 games. Sarnia's own Pat Stapleton played 10 seasons in the NHL before becoming one of the earlier NHLers to jump to the WHA in 1972. He scored 8 goals and 53 points in 81 games on the Racers blueline. Blair McDonald had the most goals for Indianapolis, with 34 goals and 64 points in 81 games. The Racers actually led the WHA in attendance in 1976-77, averaging 9,295 per game at Market Square Arena. Unfortunately, ownership issues caused the franchise to fall off a cliff after this season, folding partway through the 1978-79 season, but not before they had a brief cameo by a young Wayne Gretzky.

     Local advertisements include O'Keefe Biere, Tundra Standard Knitting (featuring Bobby Hull in an obvious toupee), Labatt 50 Ale, Player's Cigarettes, Roche-Bobois, and Laurentide Ale.

Aftermath: The Quebec Nordiques, along with the New England Whalers, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets, would join the NHL for the 1979-80 season. The Nordiques relocated to Denver, Colorado, in 1995 and became the Colorado Avalanche. 

Note: Apologies for any mistakes with French subtitles. 

References:

World Hockey Association Regular Season Statistics: 1976-77, from hockeydb.com